Tactical urbanism, bicycle rebellion, Right to the City.

I’m a Cyclist, Now Where’s My Damn Tax Break?

Note: this article was originally published on February 19, 2013 for Mismanaging Perception.

The list of bias and hostility that many motorists project towards the cycling community seems to never end.  If it weren’t bad enough that those who choose to commute via bicycle have to contend with risking our lives amid a sea of boat-sized SUVs, we also have to tolerate a tsunami if ignorance from auto-centric minds about the ways our road infrastructure is funded.

Case in point – at last week’s Columbia River Crossing hearing in Salem, Oregon, two concerned citizen cyclists made the over 100 mile round trip journey from Portland, OR by bike to testify against the nightmare 12 lane freeway expansion.  They did so not only to show that our transportation times are a’ changin’, but that commuting on a bike isn’t something restricted to inner cities.  While their testimony was well received and admired by many, afterwards an aging gentleman yelled angrily into the microphone, accusing “bikers” of being “freeloaders” who should “pay their fair share of the CRC” so that motorists could avoid tolls.  Apparently he’d forgot what mode the 12 lanes were for, or maybe he’d simply forgotten to take his meds.

At the conclusion of the hearing, it was announced that a second public proceeding would take place the following Monday, during which more testimony would be heard.  I was so inspired by the two who pedaled to Salem that I contacted one of them, my friend Michael Hernandez, to ask if we could organize a larger group to ride the 100 mile trip together.  He accepted.  Monday, February 18th, 2013 at 9:00AM in a tiny coffee shop in Southeast Portland, six determined men gathered with gear and signs to ride into battle against the Columbia River Crossing.

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Slaughter the Freeways: A Radical Livable Streets Movement

This article was originally published on Mismanaging Perception.

Where Are the Slayers of the Mt. Hood Freeway Today?

In the 1960s in Portland, Oregon the proposed Mt Hood Freeway was a done deal. By 1972 the plan for the freeway had perished. In 1967 the city proposed making the Harbor Drive highway even wider. Several years later that highway was ripped from the earth and replaced with a public park. Shortly after, planners were preparing to construct the city’s largest elevated parking garage in the center of downtown. Today, Pioneer Courthouse square stands in its place, a cultural epicenter of civic engagement and the site of hundreds of acts of radical speech and civil disobedience.

The story of Portland’s transit history is inextricably linked to a history of radical social activism. That history is scarcely known today at a time when a new onslaught of disastrous transportation projects hang on the horizon, threatening the future livability of our region.

Where did these activists of the 60s and 70s go? Did they forget to teach future generations what they’d learned in their fight? Or did they try, only to fail to keep pace with the influx of young urbanites eager to enjoy the fruits of their labor, yet ignorant of how and why Portland had been transformed into a place worth caring about? Will efforts to halt freeway expansions via I-84 and the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) fail because few people are aware of their consequences? These are the questions that keep me up at night, I’m not kidding.

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